House GOP set to go with intelligence revamp bill

House GOP leaders were scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to sign off on final details of legislation implementing the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, and the bill will be introduced Friday, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said.

The spokesman said the major committees are expected to mark up portions of the bill beginning early next week. Republican aides had speculated earlier this week that leaders would skip committee markups and bring the legislation directly to the floor. But the House Rules Committee has been working all week to stitch together a bill that would go beyond the recommendations made by the commission, according to sources.

The committee earlier this week shopped around to committee chairmen a "discussion draft" of the package, said a Republican aide whose office received the e-mailed document. According to a table of contents obtained by CongressDaily, the preliminary draft includes five titles: intelligence reforms, tools for prosecuting terrorists and law enforcement, funding for firefighters and other "first responders," national identification programs and border security, among other provisions.

The Rules panel's hands-on participation in drafting the bill before GOP leaders have officially introduced it is an indication of heavy political pressure to enact the commission's recommendations before Congress adjourns next month.

"On a really big, high-profile bill like this, it's not unusual for Rules to package many of the pieces together," explained an aide, adding that the legislation is a "moving target" that requires the Rules Committee to be involved early. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who included provisions in the bill to increase aviation security, said with a "looming election, no one who is running for office wants to leave this work undone."

Democrats on Thursday warned House GOP leaders they would not accept language affecting civil liberties. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., cautioned House lawmakers that inserting USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization language or any other controversial provisions into the House's version would threaten the bipartisan spirit that has marked Senate work on the bill.

Daschle also warned the contentious provisions would be "divisive and counterproductive" and could make finishing the bill in a House-Senate conference difficult. The Senate is expected to begin debating its intelligence reform measure Monday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Thursday that Democratic leaders have not been included in drafting legislation.

"We haven't even seen a bill," she said, calling Republicans' lack of bipartisanship on intelligence reform "inappropriate and disrespectful" of the spirit of the 9/11 Commission and its recommendations.